By Isle of Wight ObserverSt Mary’s Hospital parking system causes long queues – again.
The well-known parking system at St Mary’s Hospital caused queues of around “15 minutes” or longer on Tuesday morning (July 31).
A photo has emerged showing around 15 people waiting to pay for their parking on hospital grounds.
Stella Bassett visited St Mary’s at around 11am, she said: “I queued for fifteen minutes with no appreciable reduction in the queue, apparently only one machine was working, then security came and told us that we could leave without paying – which was welcomed.
“No-one seems to have worked out that it takes around a minute for most people to check out and pay, not only because of the time taken to enter their car registration and get the sequence of key presses right, but because the system itself takes time to ask for, receive payment, and print the ticket.
“Thirty people in the queue means a thirty minute wait to be processed.
“Not clever.”
A St Mary’s Hospital spokesman said:“One of our managers spotted the queue on Tuesday morning. Investigations have revealed that one of the machines had not been cleared by the company contracted to collect the cash.
“This resulted in only one machine being operational and caused the queue.
“We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“Our Manager immediately offered those who were queuing free parking and the collection of parking fees in that car park was suspended for the remainder of the day.
“We would like to remind visitors to the St Mary’s Hospital site that it is also possible to pay by phone or an App on smart phones. Details can be found on and next to the pay machines in the car park.
“You can call 0345 434 8008 and pay over the telephone. The location code for the St. Mary’s site is 2053. Details for payment by App are available at www.apcoaconnect.com/ and you can download the App from the Apple App Store, the Windows Store and Google Play.”
